Top positive review

An intricate and devious plot,with a frightening number of red herrings, nevertheless an absolutely brilliant story. I was captive from page one till the end as I’m sure others will be. Over and above that, the ongoing interaction between Strike and Robin is a wonderful tale in and of itself. I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping we see more of them.

Top critical review

Previous iterations of the series have had a reasonably strong sense that this is a series focused on Mr Strike as a private detective. The first in the series represented a solid opening with a crime and mystery that was sufficient to carry things along and, as the sub-plot, we had Coromorant and his new assistant finding themselves in something of a mutual attraction and the possibility of romance.

But book four is relationship, morality and pontificating from Ms Rowling who seems to project her opinions on the London Olympics, masculine dismissal of the feminine and every other issue that Ms Rowling seems to have taken to with an ideological and naive passion over the past couple of years gets a thorough outing here. Perhaps along the way she's ready a vocabulary builder because the text, in addition to the moral thumping, seems replete with odd wording that seems more jarring than appropriate. If you want your characters to talk in 'gnomic' statements then that's fine but the choice of wording detracts more than adds to the value of a detective story.

Ms Rowling will continue to be praised because of her previous work but there is nothing here that really strikes as polished or of interest. Had this been written by anyone else I'd say it shows promise and some experience but, from Ms Rowling, it seems a tired addition and justified only on the basis that she will have a ready publisher and audience.

By book 3 Mr Strike seemed at a loss as to what to do next. By this volume it seems his true calling is to find love and retire. Really not worth pursuing and investing your time.

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Previous iterations of the series have had a reasonably strong sense that this is a series focused on Mr Strike as a private detective. The first in the series represented a solid opening with a crime and mystery that was sufficient to carry things along and, as the sub-plot, we had Coromorant and his new assistant finding themselves in something of a mutual attraction and the possibility of romance.

But book four is relationship, morality and pontificating from Ms Rowling who seems to project her opinions on the London Olympics, masculine dismissal of the feminine and every other issue that Ms Rowling seems to have taken to with an ideological and naive passion over the past couple of years gets a thorough outing here. Perhaps along the way she's ready a vocabulary builder because the text, in addition to the moral thumping, seems replete with odd wording that seems more jarring than appropriate. If you want your characters to talk in 'gnomic' statements then that's fine but the choice of wording detracts more than adds to the value of a detective story.

Ms Rowling will continue to be praised because of her previous work but there is nothing here that really strikes as polished or of interest. Had this been written by anyone else I'd say it shows promise and some experience but, from Ms Rowling, it seems a tired addition and justified only on the basis that she will have a ready publisher and audience.

By book 3 Mr Strike seemed at a loss as to what to do next. By this volume it seems his true calling is to find love and retire. Really not worth pursuing and investing your time.

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An intricate and devious plot,with a frightening number of red herrings, nevertheless an absolutely brilliant story. I was captive from page one till the end as I’m sure others will be. Over and above that, the ongoing interaction between Strike and Robin is a wonderful tale in and of itself. I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping we see more of them.

I’ve always been a JKR fan, but she’s really outdone herself with this book. She has such a wonderful talent for building suspense; always withholding key information until the very last chapter, but giving just enough new information to keep you sated and keen to get onto the next chapter.

They key is that JKR always gives you sufficient clues to work out the ending by yourself, but also enough complexity to make you question your theory. (Not like annoying crime novels where there was no way you could’ve guessed the ending on the information provided.)

The character development and dry humour is also brilliant as usual. Can’t wait for the next one in the series!!

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Books 1, 2 and 3 were enormously engaging, but this newest addition doesn't have the zest of the previous ones. The characters didn't invite investment from the reader despite some of them having an interesting role to play. I found that I was picking this book up just to get to the end of the story. Usually I enjoy Galbraith's finely tuned descriptions of human relationships but Lethal White seemed overly focussed on this at the expense of an interesting story.

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Loved the 4th installment of the Cormoran Strike series.It didn't seem quite as dark as The Silkworm or Career of Evil but there was still the wonderful partnership and romantic tension between Robin and Cormoran as they solve an intriguing crime. I really want to see what happens with them and I hope we don't have to wait quite so long for the next book in the series.

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Enjoyed the dual storylines & the empathetic treatment of mental illness throughout. Like the previous books, I will need to read again in a while to enjoy discovering the clues I missed. That is one of the best things about this author - all the books can be enjoyed multiple times, even though you know the ending.